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Spencer Balmer
Spencer Balmer, better known as Antaeus, is a British ecologist and one of the five most powerful novas in the world as of 2008. He is most famous for his environmental work with Project Utopia, including Operation Eden and Operation Genesis. History Balmer was born in Manchester, and has a Ph.D in environmental science from Oxford University. He was always passionate about the environment and did what he could to prevent its destruction by governments, corporations and an ignorant public. Unsurprisingly he joined many environmental and ecological groups in his youth, including Earth First!, and participated in ecological sabotage, including scuttling whaling ships and destroying logging equipment. Balmer erupted mere days after the Galatea disaster, when he was caught sabotaging logging operations in the Brazilian rainforest. His captors intended to make an example of him, but before they could kill him the earth opened up and swallowed them along with their equipment, regenerating by the time Balmer regained consciousness. Balmer developed superhuman intelligence and his love for the earth manifested as empathy for and control over the natural world. He kept his eruption a secret until the announcement of Project Utopia. Project Utopia Seizing the chance to do something more direct about the destruction of the environment, he was among the first novas to join Project Utopia, though he did not tell them the true circumstances of his eruption. He chose his codename for the Greek giant Antaeus, whose strength was granted him by the earth, though he kept the extent of his powers from Utopia, whom he never trusted entirely. Almost immediately made assistant director of Ecological Engineering, Balmer was directly responsible for most of Utopia's environmental efforts, including Operation Clean Sweep, the restoration of the ozone layer; Operation Eden, the terraforming of Addis Ababa; and Operation Genesis, the terraforming of parts of the Sahara. He has also worked as a spokesperson for the organisation, and an occasional member of Team Tomorrow Auxiliary. The Apostasy Antaeus grew dissatisfied with Utopia in 2009, when, still desperate for some positive publicity following Slider's death, the Project requested he accelerate Operation Genesis. When he refused to do so, other novas were brought in, including Harmattan, and the project continued with less involvement from Antaeus. After Harmattan succumbed to Taint, Antaeus disappeared, quitting Project Utopia and eventually appearing in Djado, Niger, where he created an oasis and a lush fertile garden which stretched ten kilometres in every direction. There he granted audience to certain representatives of various nova factions, including Count Raoul Orzaiz of the Teragen and members of the Aberrants and the Directive. He ultimately decided to remain neutral, distrusting all factions and devoting himself to watching over his personal Eden, where he would continue to work on terraforming the Sahara at his preferred pace. Utopia, ever optimistic, described his departure as a "leave of absence" to concentrate on Operation Genesis. Powers and abilities Antaeus has never revealed the full extent of his power to anyone, but even to laymen it is obvious he has greater power over the living Earth than any other nova alive. Soil, plants and the biosphere as a whole respond to him, though it is less a case of control than that he grants these things power to defend and propagate themselves. He is able to animate earth, plants and trees, and make radical changes in ecological conditions, though as his vast knowledge is rooted in scientific understanding, he is loathe to do so quickly, as he appreciates the impact such jarring changes would have. He is able to travel vast distances between natural environments by melding with the root systems that link trees and plants across continents, and is also possessed of one of the keenest intelligences on Earth. It is uncertain if Antaeus has accumulated much Taint, but he certainly does not appear human: instead his usually naked form seems to be made out of earth and planet matter, with green skin and a beard resembling moss. His eyes are black with green pupils. Directly or Indirectly Referenced Powers No character sheet exists for Dr. Balmer. However, he has been cited as having these specific powers: * Transmit * Ecological Supremacy 3 with the Technique Adaptation. ** Incidentally this gives him a Quantum 8 at the very least, which automatically gives him 4 points of permanent Taint. * Dr. Balmer is one of the 10 most powerful novas by 2009. Dr. Balmer has at least a Quantum 6